Contents

Quotations

Comrade Wolf

As a native speaker of Russian, I think there is no need to list all the theories. The Krylov's fable ("The one who is stronger always makes the weaker guilty: We hear a lot of examples of this from History") is what Putin most probably was alluding to, and it's enough to mention just it. Yet another allusion that Putin managed to squeeze in is that Russian saying "Vas'ka sluschaet, da yest" (Vas'ka (a common cat's name) is listening, but continues eating nonetheless), which is spoken in situations when reproaches fall on one's deaf ears.

Yes, there is no need in all that theories because Putin quotes an old Soviet joke (anecdote):

Never heard of that. The one I give above, I think is the most obvious interpretation коньвпальто

I also never heard of that joke - just googled the phrase and got it. Here you are a similar joke from anekdote.ru dated September 14, 2004 i.e. prior to the Putin's speech--Nekto 04:34, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

I will try to translate it (I think it is an original variant, the one with Rabinovich looks unnatural):

Wolf, Fox and Hare fell into a trap. They sat there and cannot get out of the pit. After a little while they feel an emptiness. Then Wolf asks: Who shall we eat? Fox answers (looks awry at Hare): "Comrade Wolf knows whom to eat".--Nekto 08:05, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Kushat'?

The assertion that "kushat'" - to eat, or literally to bite, can only be used for children seems wrong - kushat' is far commoner than "est'" in an informal setting. Is there any reason to keep things the way they are without any explanation of this rendering of the term in the present article? --BansheeVTS 9:19, 13 October 2007

About himself

On December 2005, Putin said to a group of FSB officers: "There is no such thing as a former KGB man"[1]

After becoming prime minister of Russia, Putin said at a meeting with FSB officers:

"A group of FSB colleagues dispatched to work undercover in the government has successfully completed its first mission." (Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2000) [2]

Terrorism and Chechnya

Putin on Chechen extremists, on September 24, 1999: "We'll follow terrorists everywhere. We will corner the bandits in the toilet and wipe them out." ("мочить в сортире" in Russian):[1]

In response to those who called Putin to enter talks with Chechen separatists after the Beslan school hostage crisis, in September, 2004: "Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace? You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are child-killers? No one has a moral right to tell us to talk to childkillers."[2]

"If you are a Christian, you are in danger. Even if you are an atheist, you are in danger, and if you decide to convert to Islam, this will not save you, either, because traditional Islam is inimical to the conditions and objectives set by the terrorists. If you are prepared to become a most radical Islamist and are prepared to circumcise yourself, I invite you to come to Moscow. I will recommend having the operation done in such a way that nothing will grow for you there anymore." Putin snapping back at a reporter from Le Monde who asked a critical question about the conduct of the war in Chechnya, in November 2002. The quotation was rendered innocuous by his interpreter, but the original was recorded on audio and widely reprinted in Russia.[citation needed]

When a reporter asked Putin why his government didn't negotiate with the leaders of Chechen separatists, Putin answered "Russia doesn't negotiate with terrorists. Russia destroys them."[3]

When a reporter asked why he invited Hamas to the Kremlin for talks, Putin answered "Burning bridges – especially in politics – is the easiest, but not the most effective thing to do. This is why we don't rush to declare an organization to be terrorist, and try to work with everyone in this explosive region."

After the tragedy of Beslan, Putin explained the failure of Russia's Security Services with the sentence "We were weak. And the weak are being beaten."

"Yes, life in Chechnya so far looks more like a life after a natural disaster."

"People in Chechnya — just as throughout Russia — must have the possibility to live normally, to have rest and leisure and medical treatment and to raise and educate their children."

"I must say that the children of Chechnya are our special anguish. For, trials by no means childish fell to their lot. {...} But the Chechen children, just as the children of all Russia, are our future. And we can — and we shall do that — we shall give them a good education, a good knowledge, we shall set them on their feet."

"When the need arose to counter a large-scale attack by international terrorists in the North Caucasus in 1999, the problems in the armed forces became painfully evident. {...} Our armed forces came to a total of 1,400,000 men but there wasn’t enough men to fight. This is how kids who had never seen combat before were sent in to fight. I will not forget this ever."

"The terrorist threat remains very real. Local conflicts remain a fertile breeding ground for terrorists, a source of their arms and a field upon which they can test their strength in practice. These conflicts often arise on ethnic grounds, often with inter-religious conflict thrown in, which is artificially fomented and manipulated by extremists of all shades. I know that there are those out there who would like to see Russia become so mired in these problems that it will not be able to resolve its own problems and achieve full development."

Democracy

Bush:"I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world, like Iraq where there's a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope that Russia would do the same,"

Putin: "We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy that they have in Iraq, quite honestly." (laughter in audience) [4][5]

After meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on October 10, 2006, Putin said that the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya"inflicts much greater damage to the government than any of her writing." "This journalist was a sharp critic of the government in Russia but the level of her influence on political life in Russia was very minor," he said. [6]

In response to criticism from US journalist Mike Wallace that his plan to end the direct election of governors and appoint them ran counter to the spirit of democracy, Putin replied:

"The principle of appointing regional leaders is not a sign of a lack of democracy. For instance, India is called the largest world democracy. But their governors have always been appointed by the central government and nobody disputes that India is a democracy." [7]

Answering the question of Dutch TV station "Nederland 1" and Dutch newspaper "NRC Handelsblad", "Can you imagine a situation in which you would decide to remain in office for a third term?", Putin said: [8]

"I realise that 2008 will be an important test for Russia, and not an easy one.

At the same time, the Constitution of the Russian Federation states that the President, the head of state, is elected for four years through direct secret ballot and cannot stay in office for more than two consecutive terms.

I am not indifferent of course to the question of who will take in their hands the destiny of the country I have devoted my life to serving. But if each successive head of state were to change the Constitution to suit them, we would soon find ourselves without a state at all. I think that Russia’s different political forces are sufficiently mature to realise their responsibility to the people of the Russian Federation. In any case, the person who receives the votes of the majority of Russian citizens will become the President of the country."

"Russia has made its choice in favor of democracy. Fourteen years ago, independently, without any pressure from outside, it made that decision in the interests of itself and interests of its people — of its citizens. This is our final choice, and we have no way back. There can be no return to what we used to have before. And the guarantee for this is the choice of the Russian people, themselves. No, guarantees from outside cannot be provided.

{...} First, we are not going to make up — to invent any kind of special Russian democracy; we are going to remain committed to the fundamental principles of democracy that have been established in the world. But, of course, all the modern institutions of democracy — the principles of democracy should be adequate to the current status of the development of Russia, to our history and our traditions. There is nothing unusual here, either. In every country, these overall principles are embodied in this or that way. "

And, after discussing media freedom,

"We are paying close attention to all the comments of the press or opposing forces, but our responsibility is to, in spite of all these problems of which there are plenty, our responsibility is to positively develop the Russian-American relationship."

"I see that not everyone in the West has understood that the Soviet Union has disappeared from the political map of the world and that a new country has emerged with new humanist and ideological principles at the foundation of its existence."

"We need our state and society to be organised in such a way that the regional authorities feel intimately bound to the country’s common national interests, while at the same time having sufficient powers to resolve their local problems and objectives. There are, however, some basic principles that we must certainly adhere to and that we are ensuring. First, we are working hard now on creating a genuine multiparty system. {...} Second, we are redistributing powers between the federal, regional and municipal authorities."

"[I]f we go back 100 years and look through the newspapers, we see what arguments the colonial powers of that time advanced to justify their expansion into Africa and Asia. They cited arguments such as playing a civilising role, the particular role of the white man, the need to civilise ‘primitive peoples’. We all know what consequences this had. If we replace the term ‘civilising role’ with ‘democratisation’, then we can transpose practically word for word what the newspapers were writing 100 years ago to today’s world and the arguments we hear from some of our colleagues on issues such as democratisation and the need to ensure democratic freedoms."

"So let’s get away from the stereotyped thinking of the Cold War era, stop putting labels on each other and simply cooperate instead, help each other develop and improve our political systems."

Life in Russia

Putin about emigration of talented people from Russia, on June 6, 2003: "If brains are draining, then they exist. It's already good. It means, they are of high quality, otherwise nobody would need them."

From Putin's Annual Address to the Federal Assembly, 2005:

"I will recall once more Russia’s most recent history.

Above all, we should acknowledge that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century. As for the Russian nation, it became a genuine drama. Tens of millions of our co-citizens and compatriots found themselves outside Russian territory. Moreover, the epidemic of disintegration infected Russia itself.

Individual savings were depreciated, and old ideals destroyed. Many institutions were disbanded or reformed carelessly. Terrorist intervention and the Khasavyurt capitulation that followed damaged the country's integrity. Oligarchic groups — possessing absolute control over information channels — served exclusively their own corporate interests. Mass poverty began to be seen as the norm. And all this was happening against the backdrop of a dramatic economic downturn, unstable finances, and the paralysis of the social sphere.

Many thought or seemed to think at the time that our young democracy was not a continuation of Russian statehood, but its ultimate collapse, the prolonged agony of the Soviet system.

But they were mistaken.

That was precisely the period when the significant developments took place in Russia. Our society was generating not only the energy of self-preservation, but also the will for a new and free life." Read more...

"Our efforts today focus precisely on the areas that directly determine the quality of life for our citizens. We are carrying out national projects in the areas of healthcare, education, agriculture and housing construction. As you know, the problems in these areas have accumulated not just over a period of years but over entire decades."

"In the working out of a great national program which seeks the primary good of the greater number, it is true that the toes of some people are being stepped on and are going to be stepped on. But these toes belong to the comparative few who seek to retain or to gain position or riches or both by some short cut which is harmful to the greater good. These are fine words and it is a pity that it was not I who thought them up. It was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the United States of America, in 1934."

"We have spoken on many occasions of the need to achieve high economic growth as an absolute priority for our country. The annual address for 2003 set for the first time the goal of doubling gross domestic product within a decade."

"We have already begun taking concrete steps to change the structure of our economy and, as we have discussed a great deal, to give it a more innovative quality."

"Russia must realise its full potential in high-tech sectors such as modern energy technology, transport and communications, space and aircraft building."

"You know that our country’s population is declining by an average of almost 700,000 people a year. We have raised this issue on many occasions but have for the most part done very little to address it." (Putin proposed a vast programme to encourage childbirth, including 250,000 roubles pay[3] for giving birth to a second child.[4] )

"We need armed forces that guarantee Russia’s security and territorial integrity no matter what the scenario."

"By 2008, professional servicemen should account for two thirds of the armed forces. All of this will enable us to reduce compulsory military service to one year."

Foreign policy

After saying the US shouldn't have gone into Iraq in the first place: "But if the U.S. were to leave and abandon Iraq without establishing the grounds for a united and sovereign country, that would definitely be a second mistake." [9]

"Russia’s modern foreign policy is based on the principles of pragmatism, predictability and the supremacy of international law."

"I stress that we unambiguously support strengthening the non-proliferation regime, without any exceptions, on the basis of international law." [10]

[About role of UN] "The fact that today issues are discussed openly within the UN and that the UN remains a platform for settling international problems rather than serving the foreign policy interests of any one state makes it not only more universal but absolutely necessary for developing acceptable decisions in today’s international arena. We do not have any other such universal international organization."

[About problem of Iran] "First of all we must develop common approaches with our partners, approaches that would be acceptable to our Iranian partners and that would not restrict their possibilities for using modern technology. At the same time these approaches must completely assuage the international community’s concerns about the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear technologies that could prove dangerous for international peace. {...} Our main position is well known. We are against the use force in any circumstances. That is clear.

[About separatism] "Russia never raised the issue about joining any territories beyond its borders to the Russian state. And we have no plans to do so.

I consider that we must develop uniform rules, norms and approaches to punctual events in different regions of the world. Otherwise there will be chaos. {...}

I am very worried about this. And I would like Russia’s concern to be transmitted and shared by all. We must understand that this is not a sports competition in which someone wins something back from someone else."